


Aftermath

by cjr09



Series: NaEldWriMo [1]
Category: Eldemore
Genre: I mean this event was SCARY man, misc. other pets as well, you can't tell me that we're not going to absolutely break down upon getting home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 11:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5125724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjr09/pseuds/cjr09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In their latest adventure to the Flickering Vales, there'd been some good, sure. They'd 'freed' Animus and befriended Rue and so, so many creatures along the way.</p>
<p>This is simply what happens after.</p>
<p>(NaEldWriMo, Part 1.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath

The Sealer drags their feet as they walk away from the Haunted Grove.

Rue follows close, hovering anxiously next to the Sealer’s slumped form, and they don’t acknowledge her or their companion pets marching quietly along beside them other than to give them a scratch behind the ears here and there or much of anything at all- they’ve pulled their hood up and over their head, casting a dark shadow over their downcast eyes and walk forward as though in a trance.

They especially don’t react to the giant, lumbering ghost of an Ancient that walks just behind them, making no noise nor does the ground shudder beneath his footsteps as it had before- not a leaf is disturbed as he limps along behind them, his breath on the back of their neck but unfelt and unseen by anyone else.

The weight of his memory follows the Sealer in what could probably be considered a hallucination and might very well be after their latest trauma- they’d been so exhausted after their latest ordeal the second it was safe to sleep they’d all but passed out, too tired to even have nightmares- but the Sealer pays him no mind as the soft blue glow of his hope illuminates the path ahead.

Rue tries to spark up conversation every now and then- they feel bad, distantly, because Rue was like their new sister and they _want_ to converse with her and tell jokes and show her how to make s’mores and the best places to hide from Sorren- but they’re just so, so tired.

Talking took too much energy. Crying took too much energy. It practically hurt to _breathe_ and while their eyes drift every once and a while there is only dark gates and hateful eyes and a gaping maw and sickening, revolting blackness that grabs at them like thousands of hands, only _‘harbringer of the end’_ and _‘make us full’_ and _‘no chains can hold me!’_

Muzu caws gently and nudges at their cheek from around their hood, pecking irritably at the fabric as a few of those violet-eyed crows circle low and close- be it in curiosity or malice or concern, they don’t know.

They can’t muster the energy to tell the circling birds that they’re out of scraps and they’re not dying.

They might be dying. It would probably feel the same.

Muzu nuzzles closer and Rue floats nearby, hovering, and their new pets follow obediently, only stopping to demand cuddles, and Animus’s memory hangs over them like a weighted reminder and the Sealer trudges on.

 

* * *

 

They do not stop until the faded lights of Silverport are in view, and by this point Rue and Muzu- with the assistance of the violet eyed crows- have tried to bodily stop the Sealer to make them sit down and rest, and none of their new pets can carry them, though they do try.

Rue and Muzu are very clearly worried by this point but the Sealer doesn’t have the energy to tell them that they’ll be okay.

Lying takes so, so much energy.

Animus’s memory weighs down on their shoulders and they keep moving.

 

* * *

 

They are relieved when they return home- to Sorren and Willy’s home- and while at any other point the Sealer would’ve knocked the door off its hinges to show the two father figures their new pets and friend in Rue- but they’re so, so tired, so they open the door quietly and leave it open to let the pets that can fit inside, and a familiar voice calls from the kitchen happily.

“Hey, polliwog! Sorren told me you’d be comin’ back today, so I’m fixin’ up some of my famous welcome-home biscuts-” Willy abruptly cuts himself off in alarm upon seeing the Sealer’s downcast eyes and pulled hood, and he immediately pulls off his oven mitts- bright pink, of course- and swings around the counter in confusion and concern.

“What’s wrong, kiddo?” he asks, voice unusually soft and searching and he reaches a hand out to them in comfort, and the Sealer makes a broken, garbled noise as their voice cracks immediately- burdened with emotion and disuse- and Willy startles as they grasp blindly at him, tears filling their eyes until they’re sobbing into his frizzy pink apron and Willy immediately wraps them in a hug before pulling back and checking them for injuries in a worried frenzy, and Muzu caws in alarm, fluttering about the Sealer anxiously before landing on one of their heaving shoulders, hop-flying around their hood and nibbling worriedly on a loose strand of their hair.

Willy doesn’t ask questions- about their appearance, about the strange, mostly decaying pets they’d brought home, about the ghost girl who was hovering, concerned, a few feet away, and he certainly doesn’t ask about why they’re crying.

He lets them get it out of their system and only moves when Sorren returns, trading them off to the halfborn who seemed to at least understand the situation better and they let off another round of sobs into his chest.

“I’m sorry,” they whisper, voice broken in a way that pulls at Willy’s heartstrings, “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t save him.”

Sorren hushes them and Willy retreats to deal with the Sealer’s latest armada of pets- namely, the massive, skeletal drake that was very nearly breaking the doorway as it tries to force its head inside to comfort its new owner- and the ghost girl follows him, unsure of what else to do.

Willy’s got a feeling they’re going to need a few family meetings to sort all of this out.

 

* * *

 

Animus continues to hover over the Sealer, though they’re pretty sure it’s either a hallucination or a ghost no one else can see because he steps through furniture and pets and people like they’re not there and the others- even Rue- don’t acknowledge his presence.

His memory weighs down on them heavily but it is becoming easier to bear.

Animus had been freed- and even if that freedom had ultimately only allowed him the freedom to die- and when the Ancient had finally fallen (Ancients could die- what a strange, terrifying thought) his hope had given him enough strength to say goodbye and thank them.

The Sealer snorts aloud at that, bitter and angry as they bury their face in their knees, curled into a protective ball on one of the armchairs as Willy and Rue talk quietly in the background. Thank them for what? Not coming in time to save him?

Muzu rolls in their hair to distract them and it mostly works.

The Sealer uncurls themself and listens to Willy and Rue talking as they gather themselves.

“Yeah, Sorren told me all about you!” Rue chirps happily, clearly thrilled to have yet another person who can see her, and Willy makes an amused noise in the back of his throat.

“Aww, Sorren gossips about me when I’m not around?” he says, turning and blowing a kiss to Sorren who immediately pulls off an oven mitt to hit him with.

Rue giggles and the Sealer does the same- the former finally getting up from their spot on the couch to the immediate attention of all of the new residents.

“I want a do-over,” they demand, and Willy starts to ask what they mean but the Sealer has already marched out the door and shut it gently behind them.

Sorren immediately makes to follow them when they all but kick open the door again, rocking it on its hinges, and all but sliding into the living room with the speed they’ve built up.

“I found this!” They yell, pointing dramatically to their undead Slepnir who pokes its head through the doorway in curiosity, and Willy and Sorren exchange a worried glance.

The Sealer might finally be losing it.

“I’ve named them Spooky Awesomesauce the Third and they’re my child now,” they say, petting the Slepnir gently on the uncovered-bone nose, and Willy covers his with a gag as the smell of decaying flesh wafts over from the animal.

“Sealer, I think that thing’s older than you are,” he jokes, the tension in his shoulders unwinding as the Sealer returns to their normal, mostly insane self, and Sorren gives them a deadpan I-am-unimpressed-with-your-nonsense look, shrugging at Willy’s questioning glare.

“But look! I also got Rue!” They say, in the same tone of voice a salesperson would say ‘but wait, there’s more!’ and give the ghostly girl an exaggerated hug that she floats out of, giggling “I’m not something you can hoard, Sealer!”

“She’s my new baby sister and I’m officially adopting her into the family,” they say, and Willy snorts into his hand as Sorren rolls his eyes before taking a deep breath, fully prepared to start on the ‘you can’t just _keep_ people and creatures, Sealer’ speech, but Willy cuts him off before he gets a chance.

“Aww, I’ve always wanted more kids! Better get on making pancakes, then- all part of the formal adoption process, I assure you Rue. That’s how things are done nowadays- making pancakes seal all deals,” he says with a nod, and Sorren shifts his unimpressed gaze to Willy, but the ex-pirate barrels on.

“Adoption, joining the Pancake Club, marriage…” he winks at Sorren at the last one, and Sorren turns an uncharacteristic shade of pink before punching Willy on the shoulder.

“You’re setting a bad example for the Sealer,” he grumbles, but there’s no real heat behind his words and he sighs.

“Because I feel the need to make sure this is explicitly stated, you _cannot collect people, Sealer,”_ Sorren stresses, and the Sealer clasps their hands in front of them pleadingly, using their puppy-dire eyes unashamedly, and Rue immediately catches on and does the same.

_“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?”_ The Sealer says, and Sorren rubs a hand over his eyes.

“Fine, fine. Rue can stay. I told her she could before, anyway…” he mutters, and the Sealer cheers with their (relative) victory, hugging Sorren happily and Rue does her best to join in- and never one to be left out of a group hug, Willy hefts all three of them off the ground in a hug before putting them all back down almost immediately.

The Sealer giggles and looks over their shoulder as Animus’s shade fades, glowing bright blue with hope for the future and his Summoner.

This time, maybe, he can rest in peace.

“Alright, alright, let go, all of you,” Sorren grouches, but his heart isn’t in it and the slight upturn of his lips betrays him and Willy gives a quick peck to the corner of Sorren’s smile.

Sorren rolls his eyes and shoves and hand into Willy’s face, who makes an exaggerated, wounded noise in the back of his throat and Rue and the Sealer giggle at the couple, Rue ‘aww’ing as she claps her hands together in delight.

“Hush, all of you. Now, Rue, what kind of pancakes would you like?”

**Author's Note:**

> AYYYYYYYY GUESS WHO STILL CAN'T FINISH A STORYYYYYYYYY
> 
> Cj, that's who.
> 
> Anyway, this is part 1 of 30 in my NaNoWriMo journey this year, so I hope you enjoy this story and all of them to come because believe me, there will be many.
> 
> All stories completed for this NaNo challenge will be in a series marked such~


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